Flirting with Faith

Does the Protestant Work Ethic Hold Up in the 21st Century?

This was originally posted last year, but it’s on my mind again today…

Reading a “secular” textbook this morning about the roots of Americans’ tendency to define themselves by the work they do and came across this:

“Calvin’s doctrine of predestination led his followers [to view] success in work…as a visible sign that one was predestined to eternal life. This view of work resulted in the notion that one was obligated by God to achieve the highest possible, and most rewarding, occupation. As a result, striving for upward mobility became morally justified. Thus, the Reformation brought about the view of work labeled as ‘the Protestant work ethic’. The value attached to hard work, the need for all persons to work, and the justification of profit emerging for Calvinism would eventually form the basis of modern capitalism and industrialism.” (Niles and Harris-Bowelsby, 2002).

Whether we identify as Christian, Wiccan, Atheist, Agnostic, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or New Ager, most Americans have embraced these principles to one degree or another when it comes to work. Wondering your thoughts on this. Have you considered our cultural predisposition to “more is better” to be rooted in Calvinism? Does this perspective on work hold up in the 21st century? Should it?

Interesting attachment to Calvinism and the Protestant work ethic forming the basis of modern capitalism. Being more community-minded and egalitarian, I tend to think that cooperation between equals is what’s best for us all. Capitalism breeds competition between individuals and sets up a hierarchical continuum, so, while it’s really good for those on top, it’s not so hot for those under them. Is the Protestant work ethic important in the twenty-first century? If we want to keep doing what we’ve been doing and having the same results we’ve been having, then it is. If we want change for the betterment of all, then it isn’t.

I think the Protestant Work Ethic has mutated into the “more is better” attitude concerning work. Calvin’s religious basis for his doctrine seems to have been replaced by a passion for material objects leaving very few Americans aware of the oigin of the Protestant work ethic.
This conversation reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25. We are expected to make the best use of the talents we’ve been given. How does using our abilities/talents correlate to “hard work?” Looking at the question in light of the parable, neither Calvin’s doctrine or the pursuit of material gain should be what motivates Christians to work – whatever the century.

Thanks for bringing this interesting topic to our attention! A lot of ideas come up for me in reading this quote.

When I read “highest possible, and most rewarding, occupation,” I interpret that as a “calling.” There is a persistent idea in American society (and perhaps all of Western culture) that everyone has a calling. For example, Oprah talked about callings during her last show this past Wednesday. And callings are usually thought of as purpose. From recent scientific research, it seems that attraction to purpose and meaning is deeply rooted in the human psyche and is a powerful, and perhaps primary, source of motivation. So perhaps Calvin was simply recognizing and articulating something that preexisted in human psychology and framed that in religious terms?

The second thing that comes to mind for me is the preoccupation with “productivity” (and I should know, I’m a productivity coach). From watching and working with many ambitious, very hard working people, I’d say that the work ethic has been thoroughly secularized yet still has a sort of mythic quality. By that, I mean most people I work with don’t see working hard as having any sort of spiritual significance in the sense that Calvin and his followers did. Yet, working hard is somewhat idolized and painted as a certain path to material success.

Finally, this made me think of still persistent notion of material success as a transactional reward–the Jabez model, if you will. This goes a little like, “Do the right things and God will reward you with things like wealth and status.”

About 5 hours ago I wrote the following comment for a spiritual assignment to describe “My Dream Statement: Service.” After then discussing “The Protestant Work Ethic” with my wife, I came in and Googled it. I founds this discussion string. My earlier comment was:

“Working and being of service have been, and always will be, synonymous in my life. I learned of the Protestant Work Ethic early in my life. It is still part of my life. When I work, I serve. When I serve, I feel useful. When I am ‘of use’ I am alive and in relationship with the things or people I serve.”

So, I guess it is not about “Protestantism” in my life. I was not raised in a religion. I went for a year to a Lutheran nursery school, got kicked out of Methodist Sunday School after 8 weeks, dated a Baptist and was a Congregationalist until I ran into the Apostle’s Creed. Ultimately I became a “spiritual Unitarian’ or Religious Scientist. But even if we remove the word “Protestant” from “Protestant Work Ethic” the Work Ethic is something that should be addressed. I’m now retired after long careers in the military and computer science, and I’ve worked “hard” often in service. I am now a volunteer hospital chaplain and I have “worked” at that, sometimes “hard”. It is no different from other “work”. I am of service. Maybe we should call it the “Service Ethic”.

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About Flirting with Faith

Joan Ball is a professor of communication and marketing and author of the upcoming book, Flirting with Faith: My Journey from Atheism to Agnosticism to a Devoted Life. A lifelong seeker/skeptic who was raised without a prescribed notion of God, she experienced a dramatic and unlikely conversion to Christianity at age 37. She brings to the Beliefnet conversation an insider/outsider perspective on living a faith that both delights and confounds her.

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On a sunny morning in June, 2003, two days after my 37th birthday, I had an unsolicited, unexpected and unbelievable encounter with God. Put more simply, without asking, praying or seeking, I woke up one morning a churchgoing agnostic (following years of rabid atheism) and put my head to the pillow that night a newly minted, highly unlikely Christian.

I wish I could say my radical conversion happened gently…all harps and angels and light…but that was not my experience. On the contrary, I was nauseous, had trouble catching my breath and felt like there was a 500 lb weight on my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack.Â But here’s the kicker.

A lifelong skeptic who was, at times, militantly anti-Christian, I suddenly believed without hesitation that the Christian story that I had frequently railed against was true. I couldn’t have told you what that story was, but I knew without the luxury of details that it was all true.

Now this might make some sense if IÂ neededÂ a spiritual experience. Say if I was fighting a serious illness or was down on my luck financially-or maybe if I were struggling with a painful loss or trying to navigate a tough personal challenge. But I didn’t need a spiritual experience. As far as I was concerned, my life was perfect.

I was a successful PR executive making a healthy six-figure salary, married to my best friend who also made a six-figure salary. We had three healthy, happy kids and lived in our dream home about an hour northwest of New York City. I was seven years sober and had faced down most of my major issues/resentments in a program of recovery.

Life was pretty good.

Yet, there I was-sick, crying and convinced that something beyond my comprehension had happened to me.

No one was more surprised than my husband Martin, who was there with me when it happened.

He had been a Christian since he was a kid and knew the extent to which I thought the whole Christian thing was a contrivance. I had fought vigorously over coffee and cigarettes to convince him that religion had been created by leaders to control the masses or by weak individuals to soften the blow of their incapacity to deal with their day to day lives. He never did come around to my way of thinking, but I figured if he could overlook the fact that I was an alcoholic single mother with two kids and marry me, I could overlook the fact that he was a Christian and marry him.

So here I was, convinced that this Christian thing was true, with no idea what that really meant.

What followed was years of learning that is discussed in much greater detail in a book that I am writing. Suffice it to say that I learned that following Christ and living by the dictates of the Holy Spirit does not always add up to the overly simplified “join the team and your life will be wonderful” message that I have heard so frequently. As a matter of fact, the years since that day in 2003 have been some of the most difficult I have ever encountered. We have lost more than you can imagine-money, possessions, prestige and people.

And yet, I would not turn back for the world.

So, now I’m trying to make sense of this new life.Â Attempting to go beyond predictable platitudes in order to allow this change of heart to lead to a genuine change of life. This blog will chronicle the day to day joys and trials of my journey and raise some key questions and challenges I face as I find my place in a faith that still confounds me.